E85-capable DI V-6 moves from HUMMER HX concept to H3 by 2010
During a first drive event for the new HUMMER H3T in Moab, Utah, Mike Levine of PickupTruck.com got confirmation of an engine change coming to the H3 lineup. When the H3 debuted it was saddled with the 3.7L inline five cylinder from the Chevy Colorado pickup it was derived from. Unfortunately, that engine struggled mightily with the H3's 4,700lb mass. That meant it worked hard all the time and got notoriously lousy fuel economy. When a V-8 engine option was added last year, it got the same fuel economy as the five because it wasn't working so hard.
At the Detroit Auto Show HUMMER showed the HX concept with a flex-fuel version of GM's direct injection 3.6L V-6. Thanks to Mike, we now know that engine will move into the H3. Although Mike wasn't given a timeline, GM has previously said that all HUMMERs would be biofuel capable by 2010. The DI V-6 is both more powerful and more fuel efficient than the five cylinder, meaning it doesn't have to strain as hard and with cellulosic ethanol hopefully coming on stream in the next few year, the ethanol option should get more palatable as well. Now if most of the people who drive these things could just come to grips with the fact that they don't actually need such a vehicle in the first place we'd be all set.
[Source: PickupTruck.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MikeW 3:01PM (3/21/2008)
No, when the H3 debuted it had the 3.5 I5.
It was saddled with the 4L60 when it should of had the 5L40.
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mike 4:16PM (3/21/2008)
Is this the start of the Dingell boondoggle?
Doesn't ethanol have the 7x multiplier?
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Noah 12:08PM (3/24/2008)
I'd love an H3, would take it off-roading! Would prefer the 2.9 V6 diesel found in the Euro CTS, but a 3.6 gasser is pretty sweet too. Here's hoping that it ends up in the Colorado as well (with a total refresher of the truck...really needs a modern GM interior).
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TheSUBWAY.com 1:55PM (3/27/2008)
We found an interesting article about the problems with Ethanol on ConsumerReports.org:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/03/ethanol-e85.html
"But there are some problems with increasing ethanol blends. Ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, so increasing the amount of ethanol in gasoline will likely result in lower fuel economy. Increasing standard fuel blends from zero to 10 percent ethanol, as is happening today, has little or no impact on fuel economy. In tests, the differences occur within the margin of error, about 0.5 percent. Further increasing ethanol levels to 20 percent reduces fuel economy between 1 and 3 percent, according to testing by the DOE and General Motors. Evaluations are underway to determine if E20 will burn effectively in today's engines without impacting reliability and longevity, and also assessing potential impact on fuel economy."
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